User Guide

ManualsBrandsGames PC ManualsOtherSTARLANCER

COMMAND TRANSMISSION / /

TO: ALL SHIP PERSONNEL

PRIORITY ALPHA-ONE

My fellow countrymen and defenders of the Alliance:

The future had never looked so bright. There was no obstacle too great

for our Western Alliance to overcome. We had terraformed Mars and

established fledgling colonies on the outer moons and planets. With

abundant raw materials mined from asteroids, the discovery of new

nanotechnologies, and automated zero-gravity manufacturing plants, the

human race was poised to reach beyond our solar system.

...But a shadow has fallen across the stars.

Forty-eight hours ago, a surprise strike force decimated the French and

Italian fleets moored in Martian orbit. A newly formed coalition of Eastern

nations has made a grab for power. Their aim is to take everything we

have built with our blood, tears, and toil.

We have verified reports of this Coalition overrunning our Alliance High

Command on Ganymede and landing massive invasion forces on the outer

colonies. We have lost Io and Europa. Pitched battles wage on Mars and

Earth.

In the peaceful quest to build a future, we stretched our military forces

too thin and made a tempting target for those who would take advantage

of our ideals. The lack of vigilance has placed our

democracy on the brink of ruin.

This battle, though, is far from lost.

The remnants of the French and

Italian fleets will rendezvous with

our American, British, German,

Spanish, and Japanese allies

in orbit around Neptune’s

moon, Triton. We will re-

group, establish a new com-

mand structure, and assess

our best strategy. There, on

the edge of the solar system,

we will make our stand against

the encroaching darkness.

Godspeed to us all.

—Captain Robert Foster, ANS

Reliant

Summary of content (17 pages)

PAGE 1
COMMAND TRANSMISSION / / TO: ALL SHIP PERSONNEL PRIORITY ALPHA-ONE My fellow countrymen and defenders of the Alliance: The future had never looked so bright. There was no obstacle too great for our Western Alliance to overcome. We had terraformed Mars and established fledgling colonies on the outer moons and planets.
PAGE 2
ALLIANCE NAVY TECHNICAL FLIGHT MANUAL LOGON COMMAND TRANSMISSION / / TO: SQUADRON RECRUITS Welcome to the 45th Volunteers. Count yourself lucky to be part of the most patriotic and highly motivated team in the fleet! Don’t let being members of the 45th go to your head. We’ve got a tough job to do, so cooperate with the other squadrons. There’s plenty of glory out here for everyone. The 45th has access to state-of-the-art fighters, missiles, gunnery, and a top-notch flight crew to keep you up and running.
PAGE 3
GAME INSTALLATION To install Starlancer, insert the Starlancer CD 1 into the CD-ROM drive, and follow the directions on the screen. If Setup does not begin automatically, refer to the Readme file on the Starlancer CD. SQUADRON BASE SHIP: ALLIANCE NAVAL SHIP RELIANT SINGLE PLAYER GAME Click Single Player on the main menu. Select a pilot and type your call sign. Click Start Game and set the game difficulty level. SAVE AND LOAD To save or load a game, except during a combat mission, press ESC.
PAGE 4
INTELLIGENCE AND TACTICAL COMPUTER (ITAC) Debriefing Records of your wing’s and personal performance on completed missions. Squadrons Histories of Alliance and Coalition fighter units. Personnel Official records of Alliance and Coalition military personnel. News Reports Text of current events throughout the solar system. Video Reports Video feeds on current events throughout the solar system as well as previous mission briefings. Killboard Displays the number of kills for Alliance pilots.
PAGE 5
SIMULATION POD BRIEFING ROOM Training Mission “No freaking simulation can get you ready for the big black. This junk is for losers.” Instant Action The simulation (sim) pod is a stateof-the-art virtual reality simulator designed to train Alliance pilots. There are two simulator modes. The first mode demonstrates the operation of the latest flight, instrument, and weapon control systems. The second mode, Instant Action, allows you to hone your dogfighting skills in a simulated combat mission.
PAGE 6
FIGHTER SELECTION AND LOADOUT Ship Selection Displays Alliance fighters and their statistics. Click a ship to select it. View Internal Guns Shows selected fighter’s internal gunnery. Exit Loadout Computer Submits ship configuration for the launch crew to prep. Missile Loadout Shows missile specifications. Click a missile to load. Displays the Use Default Loadout and Remove All Missiles icons.
PAGE 7
ALLIANCE FIGHTER SHIP OPERATIONS MANEUVERING AND FIRING CONTROLS LAUNCH AND JUMP SEQUENCE Maneuvering and firing controls are integrated into a simple yoke (or joystick) to minimize response time in combat. Alternate maneuvering keyboard equivalents (marked with *) are only active if the joystick is disabled. After launching from your squadron base ship, you will usually activate your jump engines to bridge the long distances between mission destinations.
PAGE 8
Weapons Guns Missiles To fire lasers, press the trigger on your joystick. To launch a missile, press BUTTON 1 on your joystick. Keyboard Equivalents Fire guns Launch missile ALLIANCE FIGHTER HEADS-UP DISPLAY (HUD) The heads-up displays in all Alliance fighter cockpits are standardized to minimize the steep learning curve associated with piloting new craft. Onboard artificial intelligence makes data appear and disappear as required.
PAGE 9
TARGETING CLUSTER, SPEED, AND WEAPONS CHARGE GAUGES Target Direction Indicator (red) Set Speed Actual Speed Weapons Charge Gauge Nav Point Indicator (white) Targeting Reticle Your fighter’s speed is displayed on the graduated arc on the left side of the cluster. The Set Speed is the maximum velocity as determined by your throttle position. The Actual Speed is your current velocity as it moves toward the Set Speed. All speeds are given in kilometers per second.
PAGE 10
Smart Targeting Target Display When this system is enabled, any ship fired upon becomes automatically targeted. Smart targeting is toggled on and off by pressing CTRL+E. Missile Lock and Targeting When the targeting computer is activated, additional data on targets appears in the lower-right corner of the HUD. This Target Display provides information on smaller ships like Coalition fighters, or for larger objects such as a capital ship.
PAGE 11
RADAR DISPLAY SHIP STATUS INDICATOR – Green dots are friendlies – Red dots are hostiles Target is to the left and above player Armor Shields Target is to the right and below player Alliance fighters are equipped with fast-Fourier pulse radar arrays to accurately identify potential threats. Radar-identified objects are displayed within the three concentric rings in the Radar Display in the center bottom of the HUD. This indicator monitors your shield and armor status. It is always on.
PAGE 12
MISSILE DISPLAY MISSION OBJECTIVES DISPLAY Missile Name Remaining Missiles in Selection Armed Missile This display shows the status of missile ordnance loaded aboard your ship. To activate the display, press M. The display is also activated when missile lock is acquired and you press the Launch Missile key. This display shows the goals for the current mission. The current objective is shown by default. To activate the display, press B. Page through objectives by continuing to press B.
PAGE 13
GUNNERY DISPLAY DAMAGE DISPLAY Name of Weapon Simultaneous/ Pulse Fire Indicator Highlighted Weapon Your Ship Ballistics Weapon Indicator Number of Rounds Available The Gunnery Display allows you to monitor and customize your nonmissile ordnance. To activate this display, press G. Available gun systems may be selected by continuing to press G. A schematic representation of the weapon system is highlighted within a wireframe representation of your ship.
PAGE 14
POWER DISTRIBUTION DISPLAY COMMUNICATIONS DISPLAY Shields Guns Engines The Power Distribution Display appears on the left side of the HUD. To activate the display, press P. You can assign varying percentages of the ship’s power to its engines, shields, or weapons. By default, one-third of the available power is assigned to each system. To reallocate this energy, press and hold down P while moving the joystick toward the system icon requiring additional power.
PAGE 15
WING STATUS DISPLAY SPECIAL SHIP FEATURES Some Alliance fighters have prototype devices or other unique features. If your ship has any of these advanced technologies they will be noted in the displayed ship’s data on the loadout computer (see “Fighter Selection and Loadout”). Reverse Thrust Ships equipped with reverse thrust can fly backward. To enable reverse thrusters press SHIFT+TAB. Reverse thrusters consume afterburner fuel.
PAGE 16
MISCELLANEOUS PROCEDURES MULTIPLAYER GAME Landing Ship To play a multiplayer game of Starlancer: To land after a mission, you must first request permission to board your base capital ship. Select the F8 shortcut key or activate your Communications Display by pressing C, followed by 2 to contact your base, and then 1 to request permission to land. If granted, your ship’s autopilot will maneuver you into the landing bay. 1. Establish the network or Internet connection that you will use for multiplayer.
PAGE 17
DEATH MATCH GAMEPLAY Starlancer multiplayer death match supports up to eight players. All death match scenario maps have a restricted, predefined play area. If you try to fly past these boundaries, you will bounce off. All ships begin death matches with standard lasers and no missiles. You can acquire weapon upgrades and other features by collecting powerups distributed throughout the game. You get powerups by flying through a glowing powerup symbol.